The sleeper

The sleeper is Ensor's aunt Mimi Haegheman, sister of the artist's mother. She was unmarried and often spent the winters with the Ensor family. In the summer she stayed in Blankenberge, where, like her sister, she ran a souvenir shop. The print is reminiscent of the artist's chalk drawing Sister and aunt in profile, created between 1880 and 1885 (private collection), in which Ensor depicted his aunt in an identical pose.